In celebration of Hello Kity’s 40th birthday, the Japanese American National Museum is hosting the first ever, large-scale Hello Kitty exhibit, “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty,” and it’s absolutely purr-fect.
“Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty” is a two-story exhibit that presents the cutest Hello Kitty merchandise and follows the evolution of the famous feline faced girl as a pop culture icon over the years.
The museum, located at 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, is open Oct. 11 through April 26, every day except Mondays, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The bottom floor showcased a tremendous amount of Hello Kitty memorabilia, such as the first Hello Kitty product ever made—a tiny, see-through coin purse from 1975—as well as other unique items, from Hello Kitty bubblegum to Hello Kitty toilet paper. They were all neatly placed under a spotlight in individual glass cases. The entire look of the exhibit was very clean cut and organized.
In addition, the walls were plastered with giant vinyl decals depicting the Sanrio characters and interesting factoids about them.
There were ultra-cute photo opportunities awaiting visitors, and no limit on the number of pictures taken with the exception of flash photography.
The second floor was set up like an art gallery, featuring magnificent artwork created by many talented artists for the exhibit. Each piece was unique and created with various mediums. Some were simple paintings, while others were full on 3D sculptures.
Sanrio also showcased their unique collection of Hello Kitty inspired dresses, including Lady GaGa’s $200,000 gown, crafted completely out of various Hello Kitty plushes.
Overall, I was very impressed and felt so at home, surrounded by people who all share my love for Hello Kitty. The best thing about the museum, besides the fact that most visitors were decked out in Hello Kitty apparel and sporting Hello Kitty accessories, was all the history and fun facts that the exhibit provided. I definitely learned many cool things about my all time favorite character.
“Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty” was simply phenomenal, and I highly recommend checking it out.
TCHS School Newspaper